Thin profile surface mount lighting apparatus

ABSTRACT

An LED downlighting apparatus includes a housing with a sidewall having a front facing edge and a back facing edge positioned adjacent to a ceiling when the LED downlighting apparatus is installed in an opening of the ceiling. A depth of the sidewall is less than one inch and a thickness of at least a portion of the sidewall is less than three millimeters. An LED board and a lens are coupled to the housing. The lens is disposed with respect to the LED board such that the lens is illuminated from a back side. One or more mechanical couplers snap fit the apparatus to a junction box installed and positioned above the ceiling such that when the apparatus is snap fit to the junction box through the opening of the ceiling, the housing appears to be surface mounted to the ceiling.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation application of applicationSer. No. 16/881,686. Application Ser. No. 16/881,686 was filed on May22, 2020 and is titled “Thin Profile Surface Mount Lighting Apparatus.”application Ser. No. 16/881,686 was filed as a continuation applicationof application Ser. No. 16/653,497. Application Ser. No. 16/653,497 wasfiled on Oct. 15, 2019 and is titled, “Thin Profile Surface MountLighting Apparatus.” Application Ser. No. 16/653,497 was filed as acontinuation of application Ser. No. 16/016,040. Application Ser. No.16/016,040 was filed on Jun. 22, 2018 and is titled, “Thin ProfileSurface Mount Lighting Apparatus.” Application Ser. No. 16/016,040 wasfiled as a continuation-in-part of Design Application No. 29/648,046under 35 U.S.C. § 120. Design Application No. 29/648,046 was filed onMay 17, 2018 and is titled “Light Fixture.” application Ser. No.16/016,040 also claimed the benefit, under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e), of U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/523,640, which was filed on Jun. 22, 2017and is titled “Surface Mounted Ceiling Lamp;” and U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 62/552,126, which was filed on Aug. 30, 2017 and istitled “Surface Mounted Ceiling Lamp.” Priority is claimed to each ofthe aforementioned applications and each of the aforementionedapplications is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Some conventional surface mount LED downlights may be coupled to ajunction box disposed behind a ceiling and may be employed in newconstruction or retrofit architectural projects. One such example is the“Disk Light” provided by Commercial Electric and manufactured by Cree(manufacturer model number CE-JB6-650L-27K-E26). The Disk Light can beinstalled in an existing recessed can or a four-inch junction box andincludes a semi recessed lens. The Commercial Electric Disk Light may beused indoors and in an outdoor enclosed setting, and is generallyintended for kitchens, hallways, bathrooms, closets, laundry, porchesand garage work rooms. Another example is the Halo Surface Mount LEDDownlight (SMD) series, which are low-profile surface mount luminairesdesigned for installation in many 3½″ and 4″ square, octagon, or roundjunction boxes.

SUMMARY

Various inventive concepts disclosed herein relate generally to a thinsurface mount type of luminaire, wherein “thin” refers to the protrudingportion of the luminaire below the line of the ceiling, for example. Invarious implementations, the luminaire can be installed from below theceiling by a twist lock mechanism or by clips into a junction box thatis installed in the ceiling. Some implementations include a test switchthat is accessible from the portion of the luminaire that protrudesbelow the ceiling line. The lens of some implementations combines atotal internal reflection lens with a conical structure buried at itscenter. In other implementations, the luminaire includes a plurality oflight sources distributed evenly across a light producing portion of theluminaire. In such implementations, the light sources can comprise LEDs.

In sum, one inventive implementation is directed to an LED lightingapparatus, comprising: a housing comprising at least one sidewall havinga front facing edge and a back facing edge positioned adjacent to aceiling when the LED lighting apparatus is installed in an opening ofthe ceiling, wherein a depth of the at least one sidewall of thehousing, between the front facing edge and the back facing edge, is lessthan one inch such that the apparatus does not visibly appear toprotrude substantially from a surface of the ceiling when the apparatusis installed in the opening of the ceiling; an LED board coupled to thehousing, the LED board comprising a plurality of LEDs; and a lenscoupled to the housing, the lens having a back side facing the LED boardand a front side opposite to the back side, wherein the front side ofthe lens provides a downward facing surface when the LED lightingapparatus is installed in the opening of the ceiling, the lens beingdisposed with respect to the LED board such that the plurality of theLEDs illuminate the back side of the lens. A first spacing of theplurality of the LEDs on the LED board causes resulting light from thedownward facing surface of the lens to be substantially uniform duringoperation of the apparatus. The front side of the lens, providing thedownward facing surface when the LED lighting apparatus is installed inthe opening in the ceiling, is essentially flush with the front facingedge of the at least one sidewall of the housing.

Another inventive implementation is directed to an LED lightingapparatus, comprising: a housing; an LED board coupled to the housing,the LED board comprising a plurality of LEDs; and a lens coupled to thehousing, the lens having a back side facing the LED board and a frontside opposite to the back side, wherein the front side of the lensprovides a downward facing surface when the LED lighting apparatus isinstalled in an opening of a ceiling, the lens being disposed withrespect to the LED board such that the plurality of the LEDs illuminatethe back side of the lens. A first spacing of the plurality of the LEDson the LED board causes resulting light from the downward facing surfaceof the lens to be substantially uniform during operation of theapparatus.

Another inventive implementation is directed to a thin profile surfacemount LED lighting apparatus, comprising: a housing comprising at leastone sidewall having a front facing edge and a back facing edgepositioned adjacent to a ceiling when the LED lighting apparatus isinstalled in an opening of the ceiling, wherein a depth of the at leastone sidewall of the housing, between the front facing edge and the backfacing edge, is less than one inch; an LED board coupled to the housing,the LED board comprising a plurality of LEDs; and a lens coupled to thehousing, the lens having a back side facing the LED board, a front sideopposite to the back side and an outer edge, wherein the front side ofthe lens provides a downward facing surface when the LED lightingapparatus is installed in the opening of the ceiling, the lens beingdisposed with respect to the LED board such that the plurality of theLEDs illuminate the back side of the lens. The front facing edge of theat least one sidewall forms a perimeter around the outer edge of thelens. The front side of the lens, providing the downward facing surfacewhen the LED lighting apparatus is installed in the opening in theceiling, is essentially flush with the front facing edge of the at leastone sidewall of the housing forming the perimeter around the outer edgeof the lens. The perimeter around the outer edge of the lens issignificantly thin so as not to extend significantly beyond the outeredge of the lens.

It should be appreciated that all combinations of the foregoing conceptsand additional concepts discussed in greater detail below (provided suchconcepts are not mutually inconsistent) are contemplated as being partof the inventive subject matter disclosed herein. In particular, allcombinations of claimed subject matter appearing at the end of thisdisclosure are contemplated as being part of the inventive subjectmatter disclosed herein. It should also be appreciated that terminologyexplicitly employed herein that also may appear in any disclosureincorporated by reference should be accorded a meaning most consistentwith the particular concepts disclosed herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The skilled artisan will understand that the drawings primarily are forillustrative purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of theinventive subject matter described herein. The drawings are notnecessarily to scale; in some instances, various aspects of theinventive subject matter disclosed herein may be shown exaggerated orenlarged in the drawings to facilitate an understanding of differentfeatures. In the drawings, like reference characters generally refer tolike features (e.g., functionally similar and/or structurally similarelements).

FIG. 1 is an assembly drawing of an example luminaire according to someinventive implementations.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C illustrate various aspects of a lens in theassembly of FIG. 1 , according to some inventive implementations.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate various aspects of a conical structure of thelens of FIGS. 2A through 2C, according to some inventiveimplementations.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate aspects of mounting a luminaire in a junctionbox, according to some inventive implementations.

FIG. 5 is an assembly drawing of another example luminaire according tosome inventive implementations.

FIG. 6 illustrates various emergency aspects of the example luminaire ofFIG. 5 according to some inventive implementations.

FIG. 7 is an assembly drawing of another example luminaire according tosome implementations.

FIG. 8A illustrates an example circular LED board that can be includedin a luminaire such as that illustrated in FIG. 7 , according to someinventive implementations.

FIG. 8B illustrates an example rectangular LED board that can beincluded in a luminaire according to some inventive implementations.

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate example aspects of installing a luminairesuch as that shown in FIG. 7 into a junction box in a ceiling, accordingto some inventive implementations.

FIG. 9C is a partial side cross-sectional view of the luminaire of FIG.7 , illustrating an arrangement of an LED board and a lens disposed in ahousing and example dimensions relating to same, according to someinventive implementations.

FIG. 10A is a side view of a luminaire similar to that shown in FIG. 7 ,according to some inventive implementations.

FIG. 10B is a front view (or downward facing view) of the luminaireshown in FIG. 10A.

FIG. 10C is a back view (or upward facing view) of the luminaire shownin FIG. 10A.

FIG. 10D is a back (or top) perspective view of the luminaire shown inFIG. 10A.

FIG. 10E is a front (or bottom) exploded perspective view of theluminaire shown in FIG. 10A.

FIG. 11A is a side view of a luminaire similar to that shown in FIG. 7 ,according to some inventive implementations, which includes a testbutton similar to that shown in FIG. 5 .

FIG. 11B is a front view (or downward facing view) of the luminaireshown in FIG. 11A.

FIG. 11C is a back view (or upward facing view) of the luminaire shownin FIG. 11A.

FIG. 11D is a back (or top) perspective view of the luminaire shown inFIG. 11A.

FIG. 11E is a front (or bottom) exploded perspective view of theluminaire shown in FIG. 11A.

FIG. 12A is a front (or bottom) side perspective view of arectangular-shaped luminaire according to some inventiveimplementations.

FIG. 12B is a back (or top) side perspective view of the luminaire ofFIG. 12A according to some inventive implementations.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Following below are more detailed descriptions of various conceptsrelated to, and implementations of, inventive thin profile surface mountlighting apparatus. It should be appreciated that various conceptsintroduced above and discussed in greater detail below may beimplemented in numerous ways. Examples of specific implementations andapplications are provided primarily for illustrative purposes so as toenable those skilled in the art to practice the implementations andalternatives apparent to those skilled in the art.

The figures and examples below are not meant to limit the scope of thepresent implementations to a single embodiment, but otherimplementations are possible by way of interchange of some or all of thedescribed or illustrated elements. Moreover, where certain elements ofthe present implementations can be partially or fully implemented usingknown components, only those portions of such known components that arenecessary for an understanding of the present implementations aredescribed, and detailed descriptions of other portions of such knowncomponents are omitted so as not to obscure the present implementations.In the present specification, an implementation showing a singularcomponent should not be considered limiting; rather, the presentdisclosure is intended to encompass other implementations including aplurality of the same component, and vice-versa, unless explicitlystated otherwise herein. Moreover, applicants do not intend for any termin the specification or claims to be ascribed an uncommon or specialmeaning unless explicitly set forth as such.

According to certain aspects, the present applicants have recognizedthat it would be desirable to have a low cost but aesthetically pleasingand efficient LED downlight that is, or appears to be, surface mountedto a ceiling, and which includes a thin profile and uniform lightingdistribution.

In fulfillment of these and other aspects, FIG. 1 is an assembly drawingof an example luminaire according to some implementations.

As shown, luminaire 100 is comprised of a housing 102 having anintegrally formed flange portion 116 and fins 122. As further shown,luminaire 100 also includes driver 104, reflector 106, lens 108, cone110, light source 112 and adapter bracket 114. As will be described inmore detail below, the luminaire 100 is designed to be positioned behinda ceiling or a wall such that the flange portion 116 of housing 102extends outside a hole in the ceiling or wall (not shown) and restsflush against the exposed surface of the ceiling or wall. As such, theflange portion 116, when assembled together with lens 108, helps theluminaire 100 appear to be “surface-mounted” on the ceiling or wall,although it is not actually mounted on the surface.

The driver 104, as will be described below in more detail below, ismounted within driver module cover 124 and contained inside the housing102 behind reflector 106, lens 108 and cone 110. The lens 108 isattached to the flange portion 116 by a twist and lock mechanism builtinto the outer periphery of lens 108 and inner surface of flange portion116 as will be described in more detail below. The lens 108 thuscompletely fills the opening defined by flange portion 116, and thusfurther helps the luminaire 100 appear to be mounted on the surface ofthe ceiling or wall. Despite these appearances however, the luminaire isnot designed to be directly mounted to the surface of the ceiling orwall. Rather, the adapter bracket 114 allows the luminaire 100 to beinstalled within a junction box (not shown, for example via a twist andlock mechanism or a friction fit mechanism), the junction box beingalready installed within the ceiling or wall as described in more detailbelow. The housing 102 can be secured to bracket 114 by screws 118 andclips 120.

Housing 102, including integrally formed flange portion 116 and fins122, may be composed of any thermally conductive material so as to helpcool the luminaire during operation of light source 112. For example,housing 102 including integrally formed flange portion 116 and fins 122may be comprised of injection molded thermally conductive plastic. Inother implementations, housing 102, flange portion 116 and/or fins 122may be made of aluminum alloys, copper, copper-tungsten pseudoalloy,AlSiC (silicon carbide in aluminum matrix), Dymalloy (diamond incopper-silver alloy matrix), E-Material (beryllium oxide in berylliummatrix), and/or other thermally conductive plastics or ceramics.

Driver 104 is an electronic circuit or device that supplies and/orregulates electrical energy to the light source 112 and thus powers thelight source 112 to emit light. The driver 104 may be any type of powersupply circuit, including one that includes power converters,rectifiers, power transistors and the like for delivering an appropriatealternating current (AC) or a direct current (DC) voltage to the lightsource 112. Upon receiving electricity, the driver 104 may regulatecurrent or voltage to supply a stable voltage or current within theoperating parameters of the light source 112. In implementations, thedriver 104 receives an input current from an electrical power wiringnetwork of the building or structure in which the luminaire 100 isinstalled and may drop the voltage of the input current to an acceptablelevel for the light source 112 (e.g., from 120V-277V to 36V-48V). Inthese and other implementations, ground wire 130, attached to housing102 by screw 132, is electrically connected to the electrical powerground and wires 135 are electrically connected to a wiring network(e.g., the main house voltage of a building or other transformedvoltage) and delivers power to the driver 104.

The light source 112 may be any electro-optical device or combination ofdevices for emitting light. For example, the light source 112 may haveone or more light emitting diodes (LEDs, such as an XLamp LED fromCree), organic light-emitting diode (OLEDs), or polymer light-emittingdiode (PLEDs). The light source 112 receives electricity from the driver104, as described above, such that the light source 112 can emit acontrolled beam of light toward cone 110 and lens 108, and thus into aroom or surrounding area of the luminaire 100 (when installed behind aceiling or wall) as will be described in more detail below.

Driver module cover 124 in implementations may be made of heat resistantor insulating plastic, for example plastic comprising materials selectedfrom a group consisting of semi-crystalline polyamides, polyamidealloys, polycarbonate, polymers, minerals, glass, carbon, steel fibers,etc. In these and other implementations, insulator 124 may be formed byinjection molding, extrusion or other means and dimensioned inaccordance with driver 104, which is held into place inside insulator124 via clips 126. In the illustrated embodiment, driver module cover124 is attached to housing 102 by screws 128, which in turn aligns lightsource 112 with an opening in reflector 106 and thus an optical pathbetween light source 112, lens 108 and cone 110 as will become moreapparent from the descriptions below.

Example aspects of lens 108 and cone 110 according to implementationsare shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B which provide side and cross-sectionalviews, respectively. FIG. 2C also provides a cross-sectional view ofaspects of an operation of lens 108 and cone 110 together with lightsource 112 and reflector 106 when assembled and aligned together asdesigned. As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the lens according to the presentimplementations is unusual. When assembled for operation according toimplementations, it combines a total internal reflection lens 108 with areflective conical structure 110 buried at its center. Inimplementations, cone 110 is sized and dimensioned to be held into placein a corresponding center depression 204 of lens 108 with a frictionfit. In other implementations, cone 110 is held into place by anadhesive or other suitable means. In still other implementations, lens108 and cone 110 are integrally formed together from a single unitarymaterial, with the upper surface of cone 110 being machined or otherwiseformed in the center of lens 108.

As further shown in FIG. 2C, according to operational aspects of anassembled luminaire 100, the light from light source 112 is projectedtoward the center of the lens and is mostly reflected by the cone 110into the lens 108. From there it undergoes further total internalreflections within the lens forcing the light to travel downwards andout the exit side of the lens 108. Under normal conditions, the spot onthe lens covered by the cone 110 would be dark because all the lightwould be reflected. According to the present implementations, however,the reflective surface of the cone 110 is not completely reflective.Rather, it is configured to allow about 10% of the light to pass throughas will be described in more detail below. This prevents a dark spotfrom appearing at the exit side of lens 108 in the center portionoccupied by the cone 110. It should be further noted that the totalinternal reflection features of lens 108 and the partially transmissivefeatures of cone 110 allows for a uniform amount of light to bedistributed across the entire surface of the exit side of lens 108,which starkly contrasts with conventional approaches, such as thosehaving light sources arranged at a periphery of a lens. Still further,the arrangement of lens 108 and cone 110 allow for the use of only asingle light source 112, which enables a low-cost design as opposed toother approaches requiring multiple light sources.

According to further aspects of some implementations, when assembled foroperation together with reflector 106, any light from light source 112that is reflected by cone 110 but which escapes from lens 108 backtoward light source 112 is further reflected downward and back out theexit side of lens 108, thus increasing the operational lightingefficiency of light source 112.

Lens 108 may be made of any optically transmissive material, includingglass and hard plastics. For example, lens 108 may be comprised ofpolycarbonate material. In one embodiment, the lens 108 also provides aprotective barrier for the light source 112 and shields the light source112 from moisture or inclement weather. As further shown in FIG. 2A, anembodiment of lens 108 includes twist and lock groove 202 formed on theouter periphery of lens 108. As such, lens 108 may be sized and shapedto be locked into position into flange portion 116 of housing 102,thereby covering the main opening at the bottom of the housing 102 andproviding the shielding advantages as mentioned above. Moreover, thetwist and lock mechanism allows for lens 108 to be removed from below aceiling even when the luminaire 100 is installed, thereby allowing forcomponents of luminaire 100 to be accessed for test, inspection,removal, replacement, etc., without having to remove the luminaire 100from behind the ceiling or wall.

Reflector 106 may be made of any reflective material, or any materialhaving a reflective coating. In implementations, reflector 106 iscomprised of highly reflective (e.g. 98%) Valar 2.0 BRDF. In these andother implementations, reflector 106 is separately formed from lens 108and held into place within housing 102 when lens 108 is twist and lockedinto flange portion 116.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate example aspects of cone 110 according toimplementations in more detail, providing top and cross-sectional viewsof cone 110, respectively.

In the illustrated implementations, cone 110 is made of a thermoplasticmaterial such as polycarbonate, having a base portion 302 and coneportion 304. As shown, cone portion 304 is formed so as to extend at anangle of about 45 degrees from base portion 302. Cone 110 includesbottom surface 306, side surface 308 and cone surface 310. Withreference to FIG. 2 , when assembled together with lens 108, the bottomsurface 306 abuts with a bottom portion of depression 204 in lens 108,while side surface abuts with a side portion of depression 204 in lens108. In implementations, cone surface 310 is treated to cause light fromlight source 112 to reflect towards and into lens 108, while allowingsome light to enter cone 110 and exit through bottom surface 306.Accordingly, bottom surface 306 is preferably treated in these and otherimplementations to allow for light to be transmitted through surface 306and toward an exit side of lens 108. In non-limiting exampleimplementations, cone surface 310 is vacuum metalized (e.g. aluminum) tobe 90% reflective and 10% transmissive, and possibly further coated witha coating such as SiO, SiO₂ or organic coatings having silicates. Inthese and other implementations, surface 306 and surface 308 are bothsurface treated with a texturing specification such as LDK-1002, howeversuch texturing is not necessary in all implementations.

FIG. 4A illustrates aspects of how the present implementations provideaesthetically pleasing surface mounted appearances when luminaire 100 isused as a downlight in a ceiling.

Housing 102 is secured to junction box 402 via adapter 114 and acorresponding adapter ring 416, as will be described in more detailbelow. Junction box 402 is mounted above an opening of ceiling 404 andcan be secured to a ceiling by two or more hanger arms 406. When housing102 is thus secured to junction box 402, flange portion 116 is flushagainst the surface of ceiling 404, and flange portion 116 (as well aslens 108) is the only portion of the luminaire 100 that extends outwardfrom the surface of ceiling 404. According to aspects, flange portion116 is thin, for example less than an inch, such that luminaire 100 doesnot visibly appear to protrude substantially from the surface of ceiling404. such that luminaire 100 does not visibly appear to protrudesubstantially from the surface of ceiling 404

In implementations, junction box 402 may be made of galvanized steel,injection molded plastic, aluminum or ceramic. Junction box 402 may befire-resistant in that it has a fire rating of up to two hours withoutany need for modification, where the fire rating is described in theNational Electrical Code (NEC) and by the Underwriters Laboratories (UL)such as specified in UL 263 Standard for Fire Tests of BuildingConstruction and Materials. In other implementations, luminaire 100 maybe attached to a standard 4.times.4 electrical junction box, which mayor may not be fire rated.

FIG. 4B shows how adapter bracket 114 and adapter ring 416 are coupledtogether in a twist and lock fashion, thus allowing luminaire 100 to beeasily mounted to junction box 402. As shown, slot portions 420 ofstructures on adapter ring 416 are dimensioned to receive correspondingstructures on adapter bracket 114, which structures are then fixedlycoupled to adapter ring 416 when the adapter 114 and adapter ring 416are twisted clockwise with respect to each other. Example twist and lockmechanisms that are suitable for practice with the presentimplementations include those described in U.S. Patent Publ. No.2016/0348860. By virtue of such mechanisms, luminaire 100 may be easilymounted, accessed, serviced, tested and possibly replaced from belowceiling 404.

FIG. 5 is an assembly drawing of another example luminaire 500 accordingto implementations.

As shown in this example, luminaire 500 includes many of the samecomponents as luminaire 100, and so repeated descriptions thereof arenot included here. Meanwhile, luminaire 500 further includes test button502 and button housing 504. The button housing 504 in this example ismounted to the external surface of flange portion 116 of housing 102 viaclip 120 and screws 506. Test button 502 can be attached to anelectrical wire (not shown) and electrical signal source and can includeany electrical and mechanical components so that, when test button 502is depressed, an electrical signal is provided on the attachedelectrical wire. Many possible examples of such components are known tothose skilled in the art, so further details thereof will be omittedhere for sake of clarity of the invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates example emergency aspects of luminaire 500. In thisexample, luminaire 500 is attached to a junction box 402 behind aceiling 404 as described above in connection with FIGS. 4A and 4B. Assuch, when luminaire 500 is so attached, button 502, by virtue of beingattached to flange portion 116 of housing 102, is accessible from belowceiling 404. As further illustrated, when button 502 is pressed, anelectrical signal is sent to power switch 602, which causes power to theluminaire 500 (e.g. via one or more wires 630) to be switched fromregular power source 604 to an emergency power source 606. For example,regular power source 604 can be an electrical power wiring network ofthe building or structure in which the luminaire 500 is installed. Inthese and other implementations, emergency power source 606 can be abackup power supply including one or more batteries and powerconditioning electronics. If the emergency power source 606 issufficient, light from luminaire 500 will be produced, thereby allowingpersonnel to verify emergency power source 606 without having to removeluminaire 500 or otherwise gain direct access to emergency power source600.

It should be noted that the arrangement of elements 602, 604 and 606with respect to junction box 402 and luminaire 500 shown in FIG. 6 isfor illustration purposes only and non-limiting to the presentimplementations. Many other arrangements are possible, as will beappreciated by those skilled in the art.

FIG. 7 is an assembly drawing of another example luminaire 700 accordingto some implementations pursuant to the concepts disclosed herein.

As shown in this example, luminaire 700 includes some of the samecomponents as luminaire 100, and so repeated descriptions thereof arenot included here. Meanwhile, differently from luminaire 100, luminaire700 includes driver module cover 704 which can house a driver such asmodule 104 described above (although a driver 104 is not explicitlyshown in FIG. 7 , it should be appreciated that a driver may be includedin some implementations based on FIG. 7 , as discussed elsewhere hereinin connection with other figures). not shown). A light source housing708, similar in some respects to the flange portion 116 of the housing102 shown in FIG. 1 , houses an LED board 710 and lens 712, which aremounted in housing 708 using screws 714 and friction fit clips 716,respectively. Light source housing 708 is further attached to drivermodule cover 704 using screws 702.

Driver module cover 704 and/or light source housing 708 according toimplementations may be made of thermally conducting material, forexample plastic comprising materials selected from a group consisting ofsemi-crystalline polyamides, polyamide alloys, polymers, minerals,glass, and carbon, or other materials such as carbon fiber, aluminum,steel, etc. In these and other implementations, insulator 704 and/orhousing 708 may be formed by injection molding, extrusion or other meansand dimensioned in accordance with driver 104 and LED board 710,respectively. It should be noted that although light source housing 708is shown as having a round shape in this example, that this is notlimiting, and many other shapes are possible such as squares,rectangles, ovals, etc. (e.g., as discussed further below in connectionwith FIGS. 8B, 12A and 12B)).

LED board 710 comprises a plurality of LEDs and an example will bedescribed in more detail below. Lens 712 may be made of any opticallytransmissive material, including glass and hard plastics. For example,lens 712 may be comprised of polycarbonate material, such as CovestroMakrolon® (e.g., see www.plastics.covestro.com/en/Products/Makrolon). Inimplementations, lens 712 causes light from LEDs on LED board 710 to bedistributed evenly across its downward facing surface by at least one oftwo approaches. In a first approach, the spacing of the LEDs iscontrolled so as to cause the resulting light to be uniform. In a secondapproach, lens 712 is formed using a plastic that includes additivesthat result in a milky white diffusive polymer.

More generally, in one implementation based on FIG. 7 (as well asfeatures from other figures described herein), an LED lighting apparatus700 comprises a housing 708, an LED board 710 coupled to the housing,and a lens 712 coupled to the housing. The lens has a back side 712Bfacing the LED board, a front side 712F opposite to the back side, andan outer edge 712E. The front side 712F of the lens provides a downwardfacing surface when the LED lighting apparatus is installed in anopening of a ceiling, and the lens is disposed with respect to the LEDboard such that multiple LEDs disposed on the LED board illuminate theback side of the lens.

With reference for the moment to FIG. 9B, which shows a bottom ordown-facing perspective view of the lighting apparatus 700 of FIG. 7 asit is installed in a junction box 902, the housing 708 of the lightingapparatus 700 comprises a sidewall 718 having a front facing edge 720and a back facing edge 722 positioned adjacent to a ceiling when the LEDlighting apparatus is installed in an opening of the ceiling. In oneexample implementation, a depth 724 of the sidewall 718, between thefront facing edge 720 and the back facing edge 722, is less than oneinch such that the apparatus does not visibly appear to protrudesubstantially from a surface of the ceiling when the apparatus isinstalled in an opening of the ceiling. In one aspect, the front side712F of the lens, providing the downward facing surface when the LEDlighting apparatus is installed in the opening in the ceiling, isessentially flush with the front facing edge 720 of the sidewall 718 ofthe housing 708. In another aspect, the front facing edge 720 of thesidewall 718 forms a perimeter around the outer edge 712E of the lens,wherein the perimeter around the outer edge of the lens is significantlythin so as not to extend significantly beyond the outer edge of thelens. In the foregoing manners, the lighting apparatus 700 has anappreciably thin profile (e.g., installed depth from the ceiling of lessthan one inch, and significantly thin perimeter around the outer edge ofthe lens) to provide an aesthetically pleasing architectural lightingcomponent.

FIG. 9C is a partial side cross-sectional view of the luminaire of FIGS.7 and 9B, illustrating an arrangement of the LED board 710 and the lens712 disposed in the housing 708, and example dimensions relating tosame, according to some inventive implementations. As shown in FIG. 9C,the outer edge 712E of the lens 712, when installed in the housing 708,is disposed in a rabbet 719 of the sidewall 718 of the housing that runsalong the front facing edge 720 of the sidewall 718, such that an edgethickness 726 of the front facing edge 720 is smaller than a sidewallthickness 727 of the sidewall 718. In various examples, sidewall 718 mayhave a thickness 727 of less than 10 millimeters, in some examples lessthan 5 millimeters, and in other examples less than 3 millimeters. Inother examples the front facing edge 720, forming the perimeter aroundthe outer edge of the lens, may have a thickness 726 of less than twomillimeters, and in some examples less than 1.5 millimeters. In onespecific implementation, the thickness 726 is 1.2 millimeters and thethickness 727 is 2.1 millimeters.

As also shown in FIG. 9C, the housing 708 has a depth 724 between thefront facing edge 720 and the back facing edge 722 of the sidewall 718,which in some inventive implementations is less than one inch, asdiscussed above. In another aspect, a lens thickness 736 of the lens 712may be on the order of approximately 3 millimeters. In someimplementations, a spacing 732 between the LED board 710 and the lens712 may be particularly selected to cause the resulting light 750 fromthe downward facing surface of the lens (e.g., see FIG. 7 ) to besubstantially uniform during operation of the apparatus. In yet anotheraspect, this spacing 732 may be approximately or equal to 8 millimeters.

FIG. 8A illustrates an example circular LED board 710 that can beincluded in a luminaire such as that illustrated in FIG. 7 according tosome inventive implementations, and FIG. 8B illustrates an examplerectangular LED board 710B that can be included in a luminaire accordingto other inventive implementations (e.g., as discussed further below inconnection with FIGS. 12A and 12B). As a general premise for both of theLED boards shown respectively in FIGS. 8A and 8B, a spacing of themultiple LEDs 802 on the LED board causes the resulting light 750 fromthe downward facing surface of the lens (see FIG. 7 ) to besubstantially uniform during operation of the apparatus. In anotheraspect, both the spacing of the LEDs 802 on the LED board, and thespacing 732 between the LED board 710 and the lens 712, contributetoward a substantially uniform distribution of the resulting light fromthe downward facing surface of the lens. In yet another aspect, thespacing of the LEDs 802 on the LED board, the spacing 732 between theLED board 710 and the lens 712, and the thickness 736 of the lensrespectively contribute toward a substantially uniform distribution ofthe resulting light. In yet another aspect, the spacing of the LEDs onthe LED board, the spacing 732 between the LED board 710 and the lens712, the thickness 736 of the lens, and the type of material used in thelens (e.g., a milky white polycarbonate) respectively contribute towarda substantially uniform distribution of the resulting light.

In some inventive implementations, the LEDs are distributed uniformly onthe LED board and spaced apart almost identically. With reference toFIG. 8A, the plurality of LEDs 802 are arranged on the LED board 710 asa plurality of concentric rings 804. In one aspect, a distance 806between any two adjacent concentric rings of the plurality of concentricrings is the same or approximately the same. As shown in FIG. 8A, atleast a first ring 804A of the plurality of concentric rings comprises afirst group 802A of the plurality of LEDs, and respective LEDs of thefirst group are spaced substantially evenly around the first ring 804A.In some examples (e.g., as shown in FIG. 8A) each ring of the pluralityof concentric rings may comprise a different group of the plurality ofLEDs, and respective LEDs of each different group are spacedsubstantially evenly around a corresponding ring of the plurality ofconcentric rings. In one example, an LED-to-LED spacing of the pluralityof LEDs on the LED board is in a range of from approximately 7.5millimeters to 8.5 millimeters. In another example, a circular LED board710 has a total of 165 LEDs 802.

With reference to FIG. 8B, the plurality of LEDs 802 on the rectangularLED board 710B are arranged substantially uniformly across an entiresurface or substantially the entire surface of the LED board. In oneexample, an LED-to-LED distance between neighboring LEDs of theplurality of LEDs is in a range of from approximately 7.5 millimeters to8.5 millimeters; in one example, a horizontal distance 844 betweenhorizontally neighboring LEDS is 7.5 millimeters, and a verticaldistance 842 between vertically neighboring LEDS is 8.1 millimeters. Asalso shown in FIG. 8B, the LED board 710B may also include one or moreelectrical traces terminating in electrical pads 850, which may be used,for example, in connection with the test button embodiments discussedabove in connection with FIGS. 5 and 6 , and discussed further below inconnection with FIGS. 11A-E.

It should be noted that the number and spacing of LEDs 802 on thecircular or rectangular LED boards shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B can dependon factors such as the amount of lumens produced by the LEDs, the typeof lens 712, the desired overall light intensity of luminaire 700, etc.In other implementations, an excessive amount of lumens than necessaryis produced by the LEDs. Each of LEDs 802 can be implemented by, forexample an XLamp LED from Cree, OLEDs, or PLEDs.

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate aspects of how easily luminaire 700 accordingto implementations can be installed in an opening of a ceiling, forexample.

As shown in FIG. 9A, first adapter ring 114 is attached to a junctionbox 902 using screws 904. The adapter ring 114 may include one or morecutouts 906 to facilitate coupling of the luminaire/lighting apparatusto the adapter ring, as discussed below in connection with FIG. 9B. Thejunction box 902 can be already installed above an opening in theceiling. Although a standard 4×4 junction box is shown in FIG. 9A, itshould be apparent that many other types of junction boxes can be used,such as a type of junction box similar to junction box 402 describedabove.

Next as shown in FIG. 9B, operating power can be connected to luminaire700 using wires and connectors in the junction box 902 (not shown). Thenluminaire 700 can be snapped into adapter ring 114 and held into placeby friction fit clips 706. In one example, the friction fit clips 706snap fit into the one or more cutouts 906 off the adapter ring 114. Itshould be noted that junction box 902 is preferably installed andpositioned above the ceiling line such that, when luminaire 700 issnapped in place as described herein, light source housing 708 ofluminaire 700 appears to be surface mounted to the ceiling, althoughluminaire 700 is actually held in place by clips 706 and adapter ring114. Many other alternatives to friction fit clips are possible, such asspring clips, magnets, etc.

FIG. 10A is a side view of a luminaire similar to that shown in FIG. 7 ,according to some inventive implementations. The luminaire 700A issubstantially similar in multiple respects to the luminaire describedabove in connection with FIGS. 7 through 9 . In one different aspect,the driver module cover 704 may include multiple fins 740 which, in someimplementations, may facilitate heat dissipation from the luminaire. Asshown in FIG. 10A, a ground wire 730 may be coupled to one or both ofthe housing 708 or the adapter ring 714, and operating power may becoupled to the luminaire via wires 735, to provide for a substantiallyuniform distribution of resulting light 750 from the luminaire duringoperation. FIG. 10B is a front view (or downward facing view) of theluminaire shown in FIG. 10A, showing the appreciably thin perimeterformed by the front facing edge 720 of the sidewall 718 of the housing(e.g., having a thickness 726 on the order of less than 10 millimeters,or less than five millimeters, or less than three millimeters, or lessthan two millimeters, or less than 1.5 millimeters). FIG. 10C is a backview (or upward facing view) of the luminaire shown in FIG. 10A, whileFIG. 10D is a back (or top) perspective view of the luminaire shown inFIG. 10A and FIG. 10E is a front (or bottom) exploded perspective viewof the luminaire shown in FIG. 10A.

It should be noted that other implementations of luminaire 700 caninclude a test button such as described above in connection with FIGS. 5and 6 , for example attached to light source housing 708 and connectedto electrical wires as described above. In particular, the luminaire maycomprise a test button, coupled to the at least one sidewall of thehousing and at least one electrical wire, to provide an electricalsignal on the at least one electrical wire upon activation of the testbutton. To this end, FIG. 11A is a side view of a luminaire similar tothat shown in FIG. 7 , according to some inventive implementations,which includes a test button similar to that shown in FIG. 5 . FIG. 11Bis a front view (or downward facing view) of the luminaire shown in FIG.11A, FIG. 11C is a back view (or upward facing view) of the luminaireshown in FIG. 11A, FIG. 11D is a back (or top) perspective view of theluminaire shown in FIG. 11A, and FIG. 11E is a front (or bottom)exploded perspective view of the luminaire shown in FIG. 11A.

FIG. 12A is a front (or bottom) side perspective view of arectangular-shaped luminaire 700C according to some inventiveimplementations, and FIG. 12B is a back (or top) side perspective viewof the luminaire of FIG. 12A according to some inventiveimplementations. The luminaire shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B may employ therectangular LED board 710B as shown and discussed above in connectionwith FIG. 8B. In other aspects, the luminaire 700C may share one or morefeatures or attributes as discussed above in connection with thecircular luminaires; for example, the housing 708C of the luminaire mayhave a depth 724 of sidewalls 718 on the order of less than one inch,and a perimeter thickness 726 of the front facing edge 720 of thehousing sidewalls, constituting a perimeter around the front face 712Fof the lens 112, may be on the order of less than 10 millimeters, orless than 5 millimeters, or less than 3 millimeters, or less than 2millimeters, or less than 1.5 millimeters.

Although the present implementations have been particularly describedwith reference to preferred ones thereof, it should be readily apparentto those of ordinary skill in the art that changes and modifications inthe form and details may be made without departing from the spirit andscope of the present disclosure. It is intended that the appended claimsencompass such changes and modifications.

CONCLUSION

Those skilled in the relevant arts will readily appreciate that allparameters, dimensions, materials, and configurations described hereinare meant to be exemplary and that the actual parameters, dimensions,materials, and/or configurations may depend upon the specificapplication or applications for which the inventive teachings is/areused. It is to be understood that the foregoing implementations arepresented primarily by way of example and that, within the scope of theappended claims and equivalents thereto, inventive implementations maybe practiced otherwise than as specifically described and claimed.Inventive implementations of the present disclosure are directed to eachindividual feature, system, article, material, kit, and/or methoddescribed herein. In addition, any combination of two or more suchfeatures, systems, articles, materials, kits, and/or methods, if suchfeatures, systems, articles, materials, kits, and/or methods are notmutually inconsistent, is included within the inventive scope of thepresent disclosure.

Also, the technology described herein may be embodied as a method. Theacts performed as part of the method may be ordered in any suitable way.Accordingly, implementations may be constructed in which acts areperformed in an order different than illustrated, which may includeperforming some acts simultaneously, even though shown as sequentialacts in illustrative implementations.

All definitions, as defined and used herein, should be understood tocontrol over dictionary definitions, definitions in documentsincorporated by reference, and/or ordinary meanings of the definedterms.

The indefinite articles “a” and “an,” as used herein in thespecification and in the claims, unless clearly indicated to thecontrary, should be understood to mean “at least one.”

The phrase “and/or,” as used herein in the specification and in theclaims, should be understood to mean “either or both” of the elements soconjoined, i.e., elements that are conjunctively present in some casesand disjunctively present in other cases. Multiple elements listed with“and/or” should be construed in the same fashion, i.e., “one or more” ofthe elements so conjoined. Other elements may optionally be presentother than the elements specifically identified by the “and/or” clause,whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified.Thus, as a non-limiting example, a reference to “A and/or B”, when usedin conjunction with open-ended language such as “comprising” can refer,in one embodiment, to A only (optionally including elements other thanB); in another embodiment, to B only (optionally including elementsother than A); in yet another embodiment, to both A and B (optionallyincluding other elements); etc.

As used herein in the specification and in the claims, “or” should beunderstood to have the same meaning as “and/or” as defined above. Forexample, when separating items in a list, “or” or “and/or” shall beinterpreted as being inclusive, i.e., the inclusion of at least one, butalso including more than one, of a number or list of elements, and,optionally, additional unlisted items. Only terms clearly indicated tothe contrary, such as “only one of” or “exactly one of,” or, when usedin the claims, “consisting of,” will refer to the inclusion of exactlyone element of a number or list of elements. In general, the term “or”as used herein shall only be interpreted as indicating exclusivealternatives (i.e. “one or the other but not both”) when preceded byterms of exclusivity, such as “either,” “one of,” “only one of,” or“exactly one of.” “Consisting essentially of,” when used in the claims,shall have its ordinary meaning as used in the field of patent law.

As used herein in the specification and in the claims, the phrase “atleast one,” in reference to a list of one or more elements, should beunderstood to mean at least one element selected from any one or more ofthe elements in the list of elements, but not necessarily including atleast one of each and every element specifically listed within the listof elements and not excluding any combinations of elements in the listof elements. This definition also allows that elements may optionally bepresent other than the elements specifically identified within the listof elements to which the phrase “at least one” refers, whether relatedor unrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as anon-limiting example, “at least one of A and B” (or, equivalently, “atleast one of A or B,” or, equivalently “at least one of A and/or B”) canrefer, in one embodiment, to at least one, optionally including morethan one, A, with no B present (and optionally including elements otherthan B); in another embodiment, to at least one, optionally includingmore than one, B, with no A present (and optionally including elementsother than A); in yet another embodiment, to at least one, optionallyincluding more than one, A, and at least one, optionally including morethan one, B (and optionally including other elements); etc.

In the claims, as well as in the specification above, all transitionalphrases such as “comprising,” “including,” “carrying,” “having,”“containing,” “involving,” “holding,” “composed of,” and the like are tobe understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean including but not limitedto. Only the transitional phrases “consisting of” and “consistingessentially of” shall be closed or semi-closed transitional phrases,respectively, as set forth in the United States Patent Office Manual ofPatent Examining Procedures, Section 2111.03.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An LED downlighting apparatus, comprising:a housing including at least one sidewall, wherein the housing has ahorizontal axis and a vertical axis; wherein the at least one sidewallof the housing has an interior surface and an exterior surface and afront facing edge and a back facing edge; an LED board coupled to thehousing, the LED board comprising a plurality of LEDs; a lens coupled tothe housing, the lens having a back side facing the LED board and afront side opposite to the back side, the lens being disposed withrespect to the LED board such that the plurality of the LEDs illuminatethe back side of the lens; wherein the vertical height of the housingbetween the front facing edge and the back facing edge is less than oneinch; wherein the exterior surface of the sidewall is substantiallyperpendicular to the lens from the front facing edge to the back facingedge; wherein the thickness of the at least one sidewall, in ahorizontal direction adjacent to the lens, is less than 10 millimeters;wherein the front side of the lens provides a downward facing surfacewhen the LED lighting apparatus is installed in an opening of a ceiling;wherein the front side of the lens is essentially flat; wherein theplurality of LEDs are distributed uniformly on the LED board and spacedapart almost identically or identically and arranged acrosssubstantially the entire surface of the LED board; and wherein, duringoperation, the light from the LEDs is distributed evenly across thedownward facing surface of the lens.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the thickness of the at least one sidewall, in the horizontaldirection adjacent to the lens, is less than 5 millimeters.
 3. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the thickness of the at least onesidewall, in the horizontal direction adjacent to the lens, is less than3 millimeters.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the interior surfaceof the sidewall is substantially perpendicular or perpendicular to thelens.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the front side of the lens isessentially flush with the front facing edge of the at least onesidewall of the housing.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a spacingbetween the LED board and the lens is approximately or equal to eightmillimeters.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein: the LED board has acircular perimeter; and the plurality of LEDs is arranged on the LEDboard as a plurality of concentric rings.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7,wherein a distance between any two adjacent concentric rings of theplurality of concentric rings is the same or approximately the same. 9.The apparatus of claim 7, wherein: at least a first ring of theplurality of concentric rings comprises a first group of the pluralityof LEDs; and respective LEDs of the first group are spaced substantiallyevenly around the first ring of the plurality of concentric rings. 10.The apparatus of claim 7, wherein: each ring of the plurality ofconcentric rings comprises a different group of the plurality of LEDs;and respective LEDs of each different group are spaced substantiallyevenly around a corresponding ring of the plurality of concentric rings.11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein: the LED board is rectangular; andthe plurality of LEDs is arranged substantially uniformly across anentire surface or substantially the entire surface of the LED board. 12.An LED downlighting apparatus, comprising: a housing including at leastone sidewall, wherein the housing has a horizontal axis and a verticalaxis; wherein the at least one sidewall of the housing has an interiorsurface and an exterior surface and a front facing edge and a backfacing edge; an LED board coupled to the housing, the LED boardcomprising a plurality of LEDs; a lens coupled to the housing, the lenshaving a back side facing the LED board and a front side opposite to theback side, the lens being disposed with respect to the LED board suchthat the plurality of the LEDs illuminate the back side of the lens;wherein the thickness of the at least one sidewall, in a horizontaldirection adjacent to the lens, is less than five millimeters; whereinthe front side of the lens provides a downward facing surface when theLED lighting apparatus is installed in an opening of a ceiling; whereinthe front side of the lens is essentially flat; wherein the plurality ofLEDs are distributed uniformly on the LED board and spaced apart almostidentically or identically and arranged across substantially the entiresurface of the LED board; and wherein, during operation, the light fromthe LEDs is distributed evenly across the downward facing surface of thelens.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the vertical height of thehousing between the front facing edge and the back facing edge is lessthan one inch.
 14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the thickness ofthe at least one sidewall, in the horizontal direction adjacent to thelens, is less than 3 millimeters.
 15. The apparatus of claim 12, whereinthe exterior surface of the sidewall is substantially perpendicular tothe lens from the front facing edge to the back facing edge.
 16. Theapparatus of claim 12, wherein the interior surface of the sidewall issubstantially perpendicular or perpendicular to the lens.
 17. Theapparatus of claim 12, wherein the front side of the lens is essentiallyflush with the front facing edge of the at least one sidewall of thehousing.
 18. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein a spacing between theLED board and the lens is approximately or equal to eight millimeters.19. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein: the LED board has a circularperimeter; and the plurality of LEDs is arranged on the LED board as aplurality of concentric rings.
 20. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein:the LED board is rectangular; and the plurality of LEDs is arrangedsubstantially uniformly across an entire surface or substantially theentire surface of the LED board.
 21. An LED downlighting apparatus,comprising: a housing including at least one sidewall, wherein the atleast one sidewall of the housing has an interior surface and anexterior surface and a front facing edge and a back facing edge; an LEDboard coupled to the housing, the LED board comprising a plurality ofLEDs; a lens coupled to the housing, the lens having a back side facingthe LED board and a front side opposite to the back side, the lens beingdisposed with respect to the LED board such that the plurality of theLEDs illuminate the back side of the lens; wherein the thickness of theat least one sidewall is less than five millimeters; wherein the frontside of the lens provides a downward facing surface when the LEDlighting apparatus is installed in an opening of a ceiling; wherein thefront side of the lens is essentially flat; wherein the plurality ofLEDs are distributed uniformly on the LED board and spaced apart almostidentically or identically and arranged across substantially the entiresurface of the LED board; and wherein, during operation, the light fromthe LEDs is distributed evenly across the downward facing surface of thelens.
 22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the vertical height of thehousing between the front facing edge and the back facing edge is lessthan one inch.
 23. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the thickness ofthe at least one sidewall is less than 3 millimeters.
 24. The apparatusof claim 21, wherein the exterior surface of the sidewall issubstantially perpendicular to the lens from the front facing edge tothe back facing edge.
 25. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein theinterior surface of the sidewall is substantially perpendicular orperpendicular to the lens.
 26. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein thefront side of the lens is essentially flush with the front facing edgeof the at least one sidewall of the housing.
 27. The apparatus of claim21, wherein a spacing between the LED board and the lens isapproximately or equal to eight millimeters.
 28. The apparatus of claim21, wherein: the LED board has a circular perimeter; and the pluralityof LEDs is arranged on the LED board as a plurality of concentric rings.29. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein: the LED board is rectangular;and the plurality of LEDs is arranged substantially uniformly across anentire surface or substantially the entire surface of the LED board. 30.An LED downlighting apparatus, comprising: a housing including at leastone sidewall, wherein the at least one sidewall of the housing has aninterior surface and an exterior surface and a front facing edge and aback facing edge; an LED board coupled to the housing, the LED boardcomprising a plurality of LEDs; a lens coupled to the housing, the lenshaving a back side facing the LED board and a front side opposite to theback side, the lens being disposed with respect to the LED board suchthat the plurality of the LEDs illuminate the back side of the lens;wherein the vertical height of the housing between the front facing edgeand the back facing edge is less than one inch; wherein the exteriorsurface of the sidewall is substantially perpendicular to the lens fromthe front facing edge to the back facing edge; wherein the thickness ofthe at least one sidewall is less than five millimeters; wherein thefront side of the lens provides a downward facing surface when the LEDlighting apparatus is installed in an opening of a ceiling; wherein thefront side of the lens is essentially flat; wherein the plurality ofLEDs are distributed uniformly on the LED board and spaced apart almostidentically or identically and arranged across substantially the entiresurface of the LED board; and wherein, during operation, the light fromthe LEDs is distributed evenly across the downward facing surface of thelens.
 31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the interior surface of thesidewall is substantially perpendicular or perpendicular to the lens.32. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the front side of the lens isessentially flush with the front facing edge of the at least onesidewall of the housing.
 33. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein thethickness of the at least one sidewall is less than 3 millimeters. 34.The apparatus of claim 30, wherein a spacing between the LED board andthe lens is approximately or equal to eight millimeters.
 35. Theapparatus of claim 30, wherein: the LED board has a circular perimeter;and the plurality of LEDs is arranged on the LED board as a plurality ofconcentric rings.
 36. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein: the LED boardis rectangular; and the plurality of LEDs is arranged substantiallyuniformly across an entire surface or substantially the entire surfaceof the LED board.